The Tower in the Shadows

Comus was in his laboratory with Ranus and Elain again. He had been there for nearly an hour, pointing out things of interest on the corpse of the second-level boss that they had acquired for him.

"So, the body possesses a few things that can be used for alchemy?" Elain was getting tired, and Comus did have a habit of losing himself in his work.

"Yes... nothing major or world-changing, but some interesting potions can be made from it." Her question had thrown him off his chain of thought.

"Excellent. Send me the information and we will set prices for adventures to get collecting."

"That will help the locals get new sources of income." Ranus was thinking of the future like Elian. Spring was coming and they were already noticing the weather changing. They were getting ready for the horde of people who were at Tyboon seeking to come here.

"Have you been able to confer with the Tyboon city elders?" Elain asked him.

"Not as much as I wished. Message spells are expensive and I am not currently swimming in wealth." Ranus grimaced, having tried his best to get a rough idea of what was coming.

"I have spoken to my counterpart in Tyboon. The numbers are hard to tell, but the figures they hint at will cause us all issues."

"How bad?" Ranus did not want to know but could not avoid what was coming. She looked at him and began talking.

"The last of the churches, as you know. The guilds are sending more people to support us. The adventurer numbers are still growing, but we are looking at nearly two hundred. As for other crafters or lesser folk… maybe close to a thousand at last estimate."

Ranus sagged from what she told him. It was as bad as he feared. The community was nowhere near ready. They were short of everything. Housing, food and employment were in short supply for the current population. The pressure and weight of his position were wearing him down. He took a deep breath and stood back to his full height.

"Thank you, Elian. If you both excuse me, I have much to attend to." He turned and left the room. He walked out of the guild into the bustling town. He walked towards the largest tavern, Shadows Rest. As he walked, he greeted many on the way. Publicly, he was projecting calm confidence inside. He was in turmoil. The muddy streets slowed all travel at the moment.

As he trudged forward, he thought about what he would have to do. There was so much to plan for. Housing was the first that needed to be tackled. The longhouses that most were quartered in needed to be expanded and more single houses made. With the quarry and abundance of timber, he was sure they could build them quickly, but not for the threatened numbers from the south.

Food was becoming another problem. The mountain valley they were in was not suitable for large-scale farming. Housing and other buildings were going to take up most of the space. The river connected them to the farmlands of the Skaald to the north and the Nescan city-states to the south. With the town growing as it was, merchants would flock here all year round.

Money was running low. His personal wealth was almost gone. The Dungeon was producing a solid but low income for him. The copper and other crafting materials were building the town a good industry base for taxation. The coins coming from it being of such quality was another boon. There were many more land plots to be sold that would keep the town afloat for the short term.

The last was diplomacy. Nescan was happy with the flow of money going through their river routes. The Skaald were now opening up trade routes, with most planning to go through the town. For the nation's further afield, his only concern is Ostrul.

The scion's death and Trixis's freeing had thrown everything into doubt. Myma had admitted that the noble had overreached and paid the price. The Ostrul ship had taken her from the town under her protests. Ranus had never warmed to her. Something about her put him on edge, and he was privately glad she was gone. As for the other woman, Ostrul had not pushed the issue after the Arbiters' ruling, but he knew they would somehow seek to balance the scales.

There was one last thing and that was his family. His father and brother had not taken his actions to claim the right of discovery well. Several merchants he was friendly with had reported that they were campaigning to have him removed by guile or force. His family had, on the whole, set themselves to ignore him. This suited him just fine.

He reached the tavern after stopping to talk to some townspeople a few more times. Before he walked in, he kicked the mud off his boots. The room was hot and crowded, even in the middle of the day. Adventures awaiting their allotted time were waiting to be called or just passing the time after a run into the Dungeon.

Jontar ran his staff like a general, monitoring everything and ensuring no issues or problems existed. He spotted Ranus entering immediately and moving through the crowd to meet him.

"Good new day, Lord Goldwind."

"And to you, Tavernkeeper."

"The room in the back is ready for you." He turned, indicating the way.

"Thank you. Architect Vulus will be joining me presently."

"Very good. I will send him in as soon as he arrives."

Ranus made his way through the crowded common room into the back room. The fireplace was lit and he shed the outer layers he was wearing. Sitting down on one of the rough chairs, he thought about what needed to happen.

The door opened and Vulus entered bundled up even more than he was.

"Good new day, Lord Goldwind. By all the Gods, I am thankful spring is nearly here!"

"I expected you would be." Ranus replied with a chuckle.

"I never in my life have encountered so much snow and freezing winds." He was standing next to the fire, shedding the outer layers, revealing more rugged clothes than the bright ones he usually wore.

"I have heard the southern lands never experience severe winters."

"No. We have a rainy season, and that's it. This is the furthest north I have been and I have decided no further!" The man shivered at the thought of worse winters.

"You know we are in a mountain range, making winters harder." Ranus pointed out the obvious.

"I know and trust me; I have learned my lesson."

Ranus smiled, knowing the man was here for the challenge of building a whole town or even a city from scratch. He would complain but would have endured worse for this chance.

"Have you the plans?" Ranus knew it was time for them to get to work.

"I have, here." Vulus revealed a satchel hidden under all the layers. From within it, he pulled several rolled sheets of vellum. He opened them and spread them on the table before Ranus.

There were three sheets, each sowing the subsequent three planned construction phases in the valley. They looked good to Ranus, but he winced internally at the cost, which would quickly turn into debt.

"Have all the additional land plots been mapped and marked?" Ranus asked. Selling land was the only way to prevent a financial collapse.

"Almost all the ground is frozen and placing the markers is still difficult. Is there any word on the numbers we should expect?"

"Two hundred adventurers and over a thousand others with more coming." Ranus did not bother to honey his words.

"By the Pantheon! That many!" Vulus was forced to sit down and this revelation. "My plans are nowhere near capable of handling that number!"

"We will just need to adjust the best we can. The town has two things in its favour. The distance to Tyboon and, for now, the weather. They can only reach us via river as the overland routes are blocked by snow."

Vulus nodded, looking at his plans, already reworking them in his mind.

"I can see all the important buildings and groups have all been taken into consideration." Ranus waved his hand over the plans.

"Yes. They have all been assigned land to build when they arrive. The churches already here without buildings have staked out their plots with the others yet to arrive have been taken into account. The Guilds are looking to expand and want to buy more plots and are even buying others out. We have plenty of room for industry, crafters and merchants. The main issue is housing."

Ranus nodded as he spoke, pointing out the different districts that were forming on the plans. He was already aware of the issue of housing. The others he knew Vulus would identify and attempt to remedy. The restrictions on building around and past the Dungeon were annoying but not critical…yet.

"Can we even begin to build housing before the thaw starts the migration?" Ranus wondered.

"No. The best we could do is build three more longhouses before the first boats arrive. That will cover the population we have at the moment, not anyone new." Vulus was becoming grimmer by the minute, factoring in the people coming.

"We can only hope the first to arrive will be builders, but I know it will be adventurers for the Dungeon." Vulus did not answer but nodded in agreement.

## ## ## ## ##

"Oh, what a glorious day!"

Yes, I am in a good mood. Today marks the end of the void of corruption plaguing my mind and Core.

"0% on corruption. That's right, Larry, I feel clear-minded at last."

To no one's surprise, Larry was located in his "spot" in the rafters of the entry room. There was a Tin group on the first floor at the moment. They had been through a few times over the last few weeks and were improving. Talking about getting better…

"60% on my essence count to the next level!"

The near wiping of the slaver and his group twenty days ago had been a big boost. There had been no other deaths and few had tested the fourth floor. So, things were moving slowly but were moving. This had given me time to think about the next floor and work on mana stones. This soured my mood.

"Bloody mana stones!"

This had been the thing that was frustrating me at the moment.

"Who would have thought that they would be so… problematic!"

I move my attention down to my Core, which is hidden in the stairwell pillar of the core room. I added four newly created mana stones embedded into the wall beside me. They glowed with the magic light of each mana type I possessed. The problem was…..

Mana Stone – Shadow

Type: common. Mana: 10. Regeneration: 0.01ph.

They were all the exact mana total and regeneration. Shit!

"They are just too small."

What was a Core to do? Well, I spent twenty days experimenting with creating a better-quality stone by increasing the quality of the materials or having my Core reflected closer in its makeup. The results were all the same.

"Twenty days of failure!"

Every stone broke or exploded. I swear I have spent more time repairing the core room than anything else. I could not understand it. Clearly, there was something I was missing. I had used this project to distract me from the enchantment and potion issue that would be driving me nuts instead.

Sighing internally, I move to look at the Tin group of five Adventurers.

They had been coming in with a mentor, but this time, they were alone. They were fighting the first-floor boss and winning. They had killed it several times now and I knew that this time was not going to be different.

I had noticed the days growing longer and the snow melting on my roof. An additional team entered every day, so spring was nearly here, meaning longer days.

"I wonder what the year will bring?"

I was fast approaching four years in this world. I looked around my Dungeon at what I had achieved. Was I the greatest Dungeon…. Well, to be honest, I had no idea. What I did know was that I was as dangerous as a Dungeon four times my size. If I ever get a minion to fill it, I will have to be more restrained on the next floor.

"Maybe it's time to upgrade one of the minions already in use."

I let my mind wander with this idea. How about using wasps again? What would I do with them?

"Well, I could make the floor boss the standard minion. With an even more dangerous one as the new floor boss."

That was an idea.

My train of thought was broken as the boss in question was killed. I watched the victors collect their rewards and then head to the stairs.

"They will be moving down to the second."

Much to my surprise, they went up, not down. I watched them move up the stairs and out of the Dungeon. They did not close the door as they left. As soon as the last were out of my area of control, the Dungeon reset.

"They could have closed the door!"

I went to close it myself when another group entered my Dungeon.

"Damn it! This lot again."

The group that entered was the Copper team, which had now removed the corpses of the first—and second-floor bosses.

"I think if you stay on form, you will be after the third-floor boss."

I watched them get ready and then descend to the third floor. The Copper team consisted of six strong people who were used to working together. The boars were overwhelmed room by room. This did not mean it was a straightforward series of fights and the group was pushed hard in the second room. They were using skills and spells far more than the other floors.

They reached the boss and again, injuries were sustained, but the boss fell. They collected the rewards and the boss's body and left the Dungeon. As they went up the stairs, I checked my status sheet.

"Another 5% to my essence. Not bad."

I followed them to the exit and watched them leave.

"At least they close the door behind them."